Various valve pathologies, such as, in the case of cardiac valve pathologies, mitral valve pathologies (essentially stenosis or insufficiency), can be surgically treated either with “repair” techniques or with “replacement” techniques.
Some physicians consider repair techniques to provide a higher life expectancy and less morbidity as compared to replacement techniques. This may be related to the conservation of native valve structures, e.g., leaflets and chordae tendineae, in the repair process. Various valve pathologies may thus benefit from the availability of arrangements permitting valve replacement (such as, e.g., Mitral Valve Replacement or “MVR”) while also conserving the native valve structures.